autumn hill apartmentshttp://www.readthehook.com/taxonomy/term/1615/all
enName changer: Will tenant satisfaction improve at Autumn Hill?http://www.readthehook.com/108987/name-changer-will-tenant-treatment-improve-autumn-hill
<p><a href="http://www.landmarkresidential.com/apartmentsMaps.asp?state=VA&amp;city=&amp;cityGroup=21">Landmark at Granite Park</a> is the latest moniker for one of Charlottesville's most renamed apartment complexes&#8211; one that is known for generating tenant complaints.</p>
<p>The 425-unit complex on Commonwealth Drive, built in the 1960s, began as Westfield. It then became Trophy Chase and subsequently was in the news for several murders, including that of a UVA student killed by her husband in 2003, and 19-year-old Ashley Toney, who was shot to death in 2005.</p>
<p>Colonial Properties Trust in Alabama purchased the complex in 2009, and renamed it Autumn Hill. Although the homicide rate dropped, some tenants complained about other problems, such as unusually high water bills.</p>
<div class="sidebar">
<h2>Related stories</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.readthehook.com/108759/high-water-autumn-hill-residents-question-180-bill">High water? Autumn Hill residents question $180 bill</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.readthehook.com/69517/cloudy-water-murky-billing-soaks-autumn-hill-residents?quicktabs_1=2">Cloudy water: Murky billing soaks Autumn Hill residents</a></p>
</div>
<p>Tara Stankovic and Scott Lester received a $181 bill for their three-bedroom apartment last fall. In 2009, residents contacted the <em>Hook</em> with the same problem. The average household water and sewer bill in Albemarle is $53, but Colonial insisted its billing method measuring water usage was accurate.</p>
<p>Former resident Matt Baldwin had a different problem: The complex towed his car shortly after he moved there in 2011 because the registration had expired. "This is a draconian policy," says Baldwin. "The police wouldn't even tow a car. They'd give a ticket."</p>
<p>While Baldwin got a refund for his $125 towing bill, he's still puzzled by why the complex would tow its own tenants for legal requirements regulated by the state.</p>
<p>"I can see them not wanting people to work on their cars or to leave a dead car," says Baldwin. "But why not just ask before towing?"</p>
<p>"There are a number of reasons why vehicles could be towed," says Colonial Properties spokesperson Jim Spahn, listing parking in a handicapped space, parking without a complex permit, or leaving a disabled vehicle that created a hazard." We'd go out of our way to notify the owner," says Spahn.</p>
<p>High-water-bill resident Stankovic says she's had cars towed twice while residing at Autumn Hill. "Our inspection sticker had expired by one day," she recalls. "They towed the car." The other time, she says, their car was parked over the line of a space. "They claimed we took two spaces," she says. "I've never lived in any place like this."</p>
<p>Stankovic has better news about her water bill. She reports that Colonial told her not to pay it. "They claim my service meter isn't working," she says.</p>
<p>However, when her lease expires in the spring, Stankovic says she'll be moving. Baldwin paid a penalty to break his lease and move.</p>
<p>In December, Colonial Properties sold Autumn Hill to Tampa-based Landmark Residential for $32 million, according to the Albemarle County clerk's office.</p>
<p>Whether the new owners of the newly dubbed Landmark at Granite Park will address the issues that have hastened the departure of some tenants is unknown. Executive VP of operation Scott Baad did not return multiple phone calls from the <em>Hook</em>.</p>
http://www.readthehook.com/108987/name-changer-will-tenant-treatment-improve-autumn-hill#comments_BreakingNewsFeaturedautumn hill apartmentslandmark at granite parkNewsFri, 11 Jan 2013 20:27:56 +0000lisa108987 at http://www.readthehook.comHigh water? Autumn Hill residents question $180 bill http://www.readthehook.com/108759/high-water-autumn-hill-residents-question-180-bill
<p>Tara Stankovic and Scott Lester have lived in Autumn Hill apartment complex for three years and say their water and sewer bill for their two-bedroom apartment would typically run between $70 to $80.</p>
<div class="sidebar">
<h2>Related:</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.readthehook.com/69517/cloudy-water-murky-billing-soaks-autumn-hill-residents?quicktabs_1=2">Cloudy water: Murky billing soaks Autumn Hill residents</a></p>
</div>
<p>In April, they moved to a three-bedroom apartment in the same complex and found, over the past three months, their bill at $100, $173, and most recently, $181.</p>
<p>"I can get no explanation on how they come up with them," says a frustrated Stankovic.</p>
<p>She understands that the meter in her apartment measures only hot water, and she also knows that the $201 total bill includes $10 for trash, a $5 fee for AUM, the company that bills tenants, and $5 for pest control.</p>
<p>What she doesn't understand is how her family of four could possibly be using $181 worth of water and sewer in a county where the average household bill, according to Lisa Breeden at Albemarle County Service Authority, is $53.31</p>
<p>This is not the first time there have been complaints about the billing practices at Autumn Hill, which is located on Commonwealth Drive.</p>
<p>"They remain a problem," says Brenda Castenada at Legal Aid Justice Center. "I still get complaints about the utilities."</p>
<p>Three years ago, Castenada represented Natalia and Michael Bost, who, like Stankovich and Lester, were stunned that their water bill exceeded $100.</p>
<p>"It's outrageous," says Natalia Bost. "I don't know how they come up with these bills."</p>
<p>While they didn't prevail in court, the landlord let the couple out of their lease.</p>
<p>"We now live in a house twice the size of our apartment," says Bost. "Our water bill is $50 a month. There, it was $100 to $150."</p>
<p>Jim Spahn is spokesperson for Colonial Properties, which owns Autumn Hill.</p>
<p>"There is no mark-up passed on to the residents," Spahn insists. "The rate is not high&#8211; it's billed at the same rate as the utility."</p>
<p>Spahn explains that some of the older buildings at Autumn Hill don't have individual water meters, so the complex has no way to precisely measure each apartment's total water usage. Residents in such units rely on a hot water meter, and their bill is calculated by what Spahn calls an "allocation" basis.&nbsp;</p>
<p>For example, if unit X's hot water usage is 890 gallons, and all the units combine to consume 180,000 gallons, you divide unit X's usage by the total hot water usage of the complex to get its allocation percentage. That number is multiplied by the total water and sewer bills, and in his example, the tenant's bill comes to around $59.</p>
<p>Spahn suggests that the frequency and duration of showers and whether a resident runs a full dishwasher could affect the water bill. "It's all down to usage," he says.</p>
<p>However, tenant Stankovic says her family's water usage habits have not changed&#8211; except that her 19-year-old daughter moved out, leaving her with the expectation her bill would drop. And she still finds the bills perplexing.</p>
<p>For example, one month she recalls using less water, but the bill increased. She also wonders how a neighbor with four kids and a husband and who runs an on-site daycare manages to spend less than $100 on water.</p>
<p>According to Stankovic's October bill, her family used 1,990 gallons of hot water. She called Albemarle County Water and Sewer Authority to find out what her bill would be if she were on the public utility and says it would be about $33. Autumn Hill billed her $181.</p>
<p>"That 1,990 gallons is only a measurement of the hot water," reminds Colonial's Spahn.</p>
<p>It turns out, says Stankovic, that the Service Authority took that into consideration and doubled the 1,990 gallons of hot water to come up with its $33 estimate, an amount a reporter confirms with the Authority.</p>
<p>Of Autumn Hills' 425 units, "Only 11 percent of the residents had water and sewer bills in excess of $100," says Spahn, further downplaying the complaints in response to a reporter's questions.</p>
<p>"You have had two people contact you in five years," says Spahn.</p>
<p>"Autumn Hill consistently has high water bills," says Castenada at Legal Aid Justice Center, where she continues to get calls. "This seems like it's ongoing."</p>
<p>Castenada says that aggrieved residents can file a tenant's assertion in general district court and pay rent into an escrow account until a judge can hear the case. "A judge can order repairs, end the lease, or pay the escrow to the tenant or landlord," she says.</p>
<p>"The first thing to do is put complaints in writing," advises Castenada. "Calling&#8211; it kind of doesn't count according to the law."</p>
<p>And the law appears to be on the side of the apartment complex.</p>
<p>"Autumn Hill has the longest lease I've seen," says Castenada, who admits: "We haven't found a good way to challenge it."</p>
<p>On November 14, Stankovic got a new water bill that dropped slightly&#8211; to $166.</p>
http://www.readthehook.com/108759/high-water-autumn-hill-residents-question-180-bill#comments_BreakingNewsBusinessFeaturedCrime/JusticeReal Estateautumn hill apartmentscolonial propertiesjim spahntara stankovichwater billsNewsTue, 13 Nov 2012 18:17:30 +0000lisa108759 at http://www.readthehook.comCloudy water: Murky billing soaks Autumn Hill residentshttp://www.readthehook.com/69517/cloudy-water-murky-billing-soaks-autumn-hill-residents
<!&#8211; This will not be inserted &#8211;><!&#8211; This will not be inserted &#8211;><div class="captionLeftLandscape"><a href="http://www.readthehook.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/news-mikenatalia-bost.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-23518" src="http://www.readthehook.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/news-mikenatalia-bost-325x243.jpg" alt="news-mikenatalia-bost" title="news-mikenatalia-bost" border="0" height="243" width="325" /></a><strong>Mike and Natalia Bost say they can't afford to pay a $100 water/sewer bill at Autumn Hill apartments.</strong> <small>PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE </small></div>
<p>When Natalia and Michael Bost moved into <a href="http://www.brac.com/apt_detail.cfm?propID=3269&amp;type=Large">Autumn Hill</a> apartments with their new baby in July, they thought the $827 a month rent for a two-bedroom apartment was a pretty good deal&#8211;- until the day they received a $200 water and sewer bill. Now, they're among several tenants at the Commonwealth Drive-area complex who think water is being used as a profit center.</p>
<p class="whitespace">"We were told that water, sewer, and trash payments would be made directly to the leasing office and that they would run $30-40 a month," says Natalia Bost. "In our last apartment, we paid about $25."</p>
<p class="whitespace">At Autumn Hill, the lease reveals that residents may be paying for utilities consumed not only in common areas but also in other residential units, as well as paying an administrative fee that "may or may not accurately reflect actual total utility consumption."</p>
<p class="whitespace">
<!&#8211; This will not be inserted &#8211;><!&#8211; This will not be inserted &#8211;></p>
<div class="captionRightLandscape"><a href="http://www.readthehook.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/news-autumn-hill.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-23520" src="http://www.readthehook.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/news-autumn-hill-325x243.jpg" alt="news-autumn-hill" title="news-autumn-hill" border="0" height="243" width="325" /></a><strong>Water and sewer bills can vary wildly under sub-metered third-party billing at Autumn Hill apartments off Commonwealth Drive.</strong> <small>PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE </small></div>
<p>In her work as an attorney for Legal Aid Justice Center, Brenda Castaneda has heard previous complaints about Autumn Hill.</p>
<p class="whitespace">"They have really high water bills," says Castaneda. "Either they have really high usage, or they're making a huge profit, and they're not allowed to make a huge profit."</p>
<p class="whitespace">Or maybe they can. In older complexes that don't have a separate water meter for each unit, management can place a small in-home meter on the hot water pipes and then apply a ratio to estimate total use.</p>
<p class="whitespace">Bost says she sent an email October 20 and a letter November 13 requesting the billing formula, and to date she's claims no response on the numbers that go into the formula. As she struggled to figure out the rate at which her bill was calculated, Bost contacted the third-party biller, AUM, to learn how what ratio was used.</p>
<p class="whitespace">"I was told by the AUM customer service representative that this number was 'private information belonging to your apartment complex,'" relates Bost. "I called our apartment complex to follow up on this number and was told they would 'get back to me.'"</p>
<p class="whitespace">While she never got the ratio, she did find out that her $200 bill included a set-up fee, a partial month, a $10 trash fee, and a $4.50 administrative fee for AUM. Thinking that was a one-time high, the Bosts were stunned to receive an $88 water/sewer bill in August, and by September it had soared to $108.77. (The average customer pays $69.84, according to the Albemarle County Service Authority.)</p>
<p class="whitespace">"I'm concerned about profit sharing and transparency when a public utility is taken into the private sector," says Bost, noting that in Seattle apartments are required to post the water bill for the entire complex.</p>
<p class="whitespace">"We're going to sit down with her and make sure everything is working properly," vows Jim Spahn, communication director for Colonial Properties, the real estate investment trust that owns Autumn Hill and more than 250 other properties in 14 states&#8211;- and which insists that the hot water metering is accurate.</p>
<p class="whitespace">John Smith lives in the same building, has a washer and dryer and two kids, and he estimates his water bill is around $60 a month. "If I got a $120 bill, I'd be asking some questions."</p>
<p class="whitespace">Two other interviewed tenants said their water/sewer bills, which include $10 for trash pick up, were around $40. Luke Ohlendorf's, however, is usually around $60, and he says it's been as high as $100 in February.</p>
<p class="whitespace">"They said they averaged the building," says Ohlendorf. "I definitely feel it's too high, but don't know where to go with it legally."</p>
<p class="whitespace">And then there's Jeremy Johnson. He moved in in August, and says he's had a $300 water bill. "It averages $120," he says.</p>
<p class="whitespace">Johnson isn't complaining, though. He's moving.</p>
<p class="whitespace">As for they Bosts, they just got their October water bill. It's $138.</p>
http://www.readthehook.com/69517/cloudy-water-murky-billing-soaks-autumn-hill-residents#comments_BreakingNewsFeaturedInfrastructureReal Estateautumn hill apartmentswater billsNewsFri, 20 Nov 2009 10:08:40 +0000lisa69517 at http://www.readthehook.com